Davis

The last two days have been absolutely hectic - work from 8am to 10pm - which hasn't allowed for much travelling time, especially since my jobs took me out to Folsom and then all the way to Morgan Hill. Luckily I live in Davis and therefore doing the preliminary research isn't too bad since I know most of the quirks and history of the city off hand.

For instance did you know that Davis, CA was ranked the second most educated city in the nation by CNN in 2006? Or that the town used to be called Davisville after a prominent local farmer named Jerome C. Davis?

The post office shortened the city's name to Davis in 1907 and when the city incorporated in 1917, the name was officially changed to Davis. UCDavis is closely tied with the history and lifestyle of the town. In 1908 the "University Farm School" was established and since then Davis was known as an agricultural community - even the name 'Aggie' echoes this heritage.

Davis now has a population of about 64,500 and is known internationally foor it's contributions to various fields of science; particulary agriculture, veterinary medicine, and medical technology.

As stated by the City's vistor center:

The City of Davis is a university-oriented city of approximately 64,500. It has a unique university and residential community internationally known for its commitment to environmental awareness and implementing progressive and socially innovative programs. The City’s quality of life and vigorous progressive community is reflected in its small-town style and many well known symbols: energy conservation, environmental programs, green belts, parks, preservation of trees, British red double-decker buses, bicycle paths, record number of bicycles per capital, and the quality of its educational institutions.

What they leave out is the ample amount of diverse culture that the city center has to offer in terms of art, food, music, and entertainment.

I'll be doing more research tomorrow evening, but for now I'll have to leave the blog at this - seeing as I'm about to fall asleep at my computer.

Tre

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."

I wholeheartedly agree with Rudyard Kipling - words are addicting and when used correctly can hold an enormous amount of power and influence. Regardless of what form they're packaged in, words are my choice of drug (along with caffeine and chocolate). My addiction tends to burn a hole in my pocket, but what can you do, neh?

Currently I'm only subscribed to one magazine: The Soccer Journal. I just can't really afford to have a subscription to anything other than the newspaper, but I do read a wide range of magazines whenever I'm looking to update my book collection at Borders. They include: Jane Magazine, Smithsonian, National Geographic, The Advocate, Times, and of course I always browse through whatever magazines are near the check-out stand when I'm buying groceries ( I get bored in lines).

I really enjoy National Geographic and Smithsonian because of their cultural content. As an art history major I really enjoy learning about other cultures and their traditions. Also I'm a junkie when it comes to the History and Science Channels. As for The Advocate and Times, I suppose at times I feel guilty at the fact that I'm not as aware of world events as I would like to be and these magazines allow to me to reconnect.

Jane Magazine is that magazine I just have to flip through while having coffee at Seattle's Best in Borders. It's entertaining and I enjoy the articles.

The Soccer Journal is the one magazine I do read from cover to cover with every issue. They have a lot of articles for coaches. And as an avid soccer fan, coach, and player I can't get enough of it.

Since I don't read magazines on a regular bases, I keep my mind occupied with other forms of the written word. A lot of what I read outside the books in my library come from the depths of the World Wide Web. The Internet is just a vast resource when it comes to information and I spend hours upon hours wading through the delicious that websites have to offer. The New York Times, Personal Blogs, BBC.com, The Onion, LiveJournal, and then I have my nice little comfort comedy food in the world of web comics.

1 non-fiction, 1 fiction, 1 graphic novel, 2 magazines, and a short story in either Italian or Spanish are what I usually aim to digest in a week. And I like to think I fulfill that goal fairly consistently (perhaps that's why I have trouble keeping up with my reading assignments for school). What can I say, I'm a book worm.

Man of Spirit

[rough draft of my prelimanary research - I realize where I need to get more information, unfortunately that might not be possible before Tuesday -unless I can pin people down before they leave town- so we'll see]


It is never too late to try something new and reignite a passion for the arts. With more than 55 years under his belt as a botanist professor at Sacramento State, Professor Lee Kavaljian has shown us that he is more than a man of the sciences; he is a man of art, using his knowledge of science to create exquisite motifs on his ceramic spirit houses.

Kavaljian started working as a professor at Sacramento State in 1954 and though he’s always had an interest in the arts, he didn’t start creating his own work until an art student taking one of his botany classes challenged him.

“This student, who was an art student, wasn’t doing too well in my class, especially with the drawings of plants we were doing. I poked some fun, you know. Until they said, well if you can throw a bowl on a wheel than I’ll work harder in your class,” said a charismatic Kavaljian. He took the challenge and found that throwing a ceramic bowl wasn’t as simple and easy and he first thought. At the age of 60 he set out to learn how, with the help of his student and by attending Saturday classes on campus. His newfound passion grew and in time he started to create ceramic spirit houses with intricate detailed floral and calligraphic motifs.

Spirit houses date back to the Ming Dynasty in China. In order to help the deceased in the afterlife, it was customary to include at the burial site small porcelain houses in which the spirit of the deceased could live. Now they are more commonly found in Southeast Asian homes and buildings in order to provide shelter to the Phram Phum, or “guardian spirit of the land.”

The worship of spirits is connected with the traditional belief in a spirit world, also known as animism. In Thailand especially, it is believed that these Phram Phum need to be appeased when disturbed and by providing the spirit with a home of it’s own the land the spirit inhabits will remain in pace and harmony with the new property owners.

Due

I've definitely been slacking in school the past couple of days. I think my workload is starting to wear me down. But as much as I've been slacking, I have been doing some research for my first magazine story.

I'm planning on doing a story on the history of spirit houses (also known as Sarn phra phum ) and Prof. Lee Kavaljian's creation of these intricate spiritual pieces. The first things first, what is a spirit house? Like a good student I hit the library, only to find that there's very little written literature about spirit houses. So I tried a different approach, the Internet. I found a myriad of information on these artistic spiritual houses.

These unique and beautiful houses can be seen outside of Thai business establishments, private homes and temples. I learned that there is a mixture of Buddhist, Animist and Brahmist history behind spirit houses. The purpose of a spirit house is to provide shelter for the spirits of the land, it is believed that by offering shelter the spirits will protect the land and keep it from harm.

I also realized that I had a lot more research to do. I started looking up books in the library and articles on the Internet about the ceremony involved in setting up a spirit house.

Hopefully with all the information I've gathered, I'll be able to ask Prof. Kavaljian some good questions when he lectures to a class today about his own exquisite spirit house creations. And I'm hoping to speak to Prof. Chirapravati about her own experiences with Prof. Kavaljian's artwork and her knowledge of spirit houses.

Apathy kills...

...writing.

It devours the passion that brings writing to life. So today, after reading my blog 'Uno', I've decided I will never again write while feeling sluggish, mentally exhausted, or moody. This should prove interesting seeing as I'm taking 22 units and holding two jobs. But I am passionate about writing, despite the lack of enthusiasm found in my previous post. So I resolve to be passionate about my writing regardless of the subject matter.

Passion. I think passion is a necessary element in any type of writing. The best writers are those who write in a way that makes their readers excited and interested. An article that might otherwise be fascinating - say the atrocities of the School of Americas - will lose readership if it's written in a sluggish tired manner - much like my previous blog.

I am a passionate person. I'm passionate about writing because I believe there is a lot to be said in this day and a lot of it isn't being said. I'm passionate about soccer; I was born with a soccer ball attached to my foot. I'm passionate about education and tolerance because I firmly believe that it's something important, especially in the age we live. And I'm passionate about learning. I love to learn. I was looking at graduate schools last night and I was excited to discover that my top choice requires its students to study German or French - and I've always wanted to take French despite my Hispanic background and fascination with Italian art.

So to re-answer the questions Prof. Fitzgerald posed to us:

I hope to become a better writer, which I think is a common factor we all share. Most of us are taking this class to improve our writing and develop our own voice and style. I want to discover my writing voice and my writing style; I expect this.

Working with other aspiring writers is fantastic. We all have the chance to see other styles and hear other voices and find out where our own fit in the mix. I've enjoyed writing since I was a freshman in college [see: writing]. And I hope that this class will help me in writing what I'm passionate about. I want to write about what I love and what my readers love. I truly am excited about this class.

Uno

I don't know if I want to be a professional writer or not. If I end up pursuing writing as a career choice, it most definitely wouldn't be my only career track. I really love the arts and I'm learning to love Museum and Gallery Studies with each new semester in the CSUS Art Department. That doesn't mean I don't like to write. I love to write, but I think I lack the confidence to pursue a career as a novelist or what have you. I definitely would love to do work as a freelance writer for art publications, but at the same time (as I said before) I really love the museum world; and yes there are a lot of writing opportunities as a gallery manager or curator. But I'm not sure I want to be a professional writer, mainly because I'm not sure what that means.

After all, what is a professional writer? Someone who gets paid to write? Because if that's the case then I most definitely will become a professional writer in some shape or form. Otherwise I don't know if I'll achieve the level of writing that a professional writer has; does a professional writer use a special pen or write in cursive, print or by computer? Anyways, I'm rambling again.

I just hope that after this class my writing will develop to the level I think it can, to a professional publishable level. I really hope that with continued practice I'll gain my own unique style to telling a story, a style that contains a tone that is easily understandable. Not to mention I really need to work on being more concise and direct.

Apart from being a pretty interesting class that fulfills the elective element for my degree, I really want to learn about magazines in this class. I like the stories I read in magazines; I read when I'm waiting for a doctor's appointment, on a flight, or even when I'm on my break at Borders. It's just interesting to see some of the stories and see how each magazine has a different style or slant.